I keep hearing about global warming and then I read this
By Debs_place
@Debs_place (10520)
United States
February 11, 2008 12:42pm CST
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/02/11/minnesota.cold.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Okay, there is a record low that has hit Minnesota - 40 below 0 - now that is cold. We keep hearing about global warming yet we can have an extreme like this. Can anyone explain to me how we can have global warming and record colds at the same time. I will except any ideas that any one has -- and if you can come up with a humorous explanation - I would love to read it too.
BTW - How does a normal person stay warm when it is -40 degrees?? The furnaces and boilers must be in overdrive.
3 people like this
3 responses
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
11 Feb 08
I do not understand any of this...I just assumed that global warming simply means that the sun is getting close to earth..I don't know what to say about this, but i do know the weather is really doing weird stuff for quite a while...I do wish i could be of more help to you....
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
11 Feb 08
I know the sun is not getting closer. I thought it had more to do with atmospheric depletion resulting in more sunlight etc coming through.
@cdv102 (132)
• United States
12 Feb 08
No, global warming is not about the sun getting closer to the earth. It's about the amount of heat the earth is absorbing. We are supposed to absorb a certain amount of heat from the sun, but some of it should be reflected back into the atmosphere. A layer of CO2 allows some heat to escape and some heat to stay trapped, warming the earth. However, because we are producing so much CO2 (partially in thanks to so many cars, electronics, deforestation, etc.) not enough heat is escaping. Because of that, the polar ice caps are melting, which help cool the planet and stabilize temperatures. All of this is part of why we are having such extreme weather. Hurricane Katrina would not have been nearly as bad if the water it passed over hadn't been so unusually warm, for example. I urge you to watch An Inconvenient Truth. It explains the whole thing really well and lets you know some things you can do to help save the planet.
1 person likes this
@WC1989 (595)
• United States
11 Feb 08
In short: Global warming means summers get hotter while winters get cooler.
In long: The poles get hotter no matter what, melting the ice. However, the ice is still cold (in comparison to what we usually have), so when it gets here, it makes it seem cooler.
Just wait until summer when temperatures go to 120F and there are 3-4 tropical storms and even more tornadoes.
I hope everyone has their charity fund ready 'cuz I'm sure more disasters will occur this summer .(yes, It's a grim way of looking at it, but a true way).
1 person likes this
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
11 Feb 08
So it actually means that we will be having more extremes in temperature?
@WC1989 (595)
• United States
12 Feb 08
Well, that's only one aspect. Yes, more extremes. More violent weather. Also, it'll cause water levels to go up as ice levels go down, engulfing many islands and low-altitude places. (I live on Long island, that is NOT a good thing to know .)
Also, some animals will die due to these changes. Others will adapt differently;many animals have already started changing migrating dates and paths.
Then when the planet ends up heating to its maximum...ice age. Most humans ,if not all, will die(assuming they survive everything else).
IOW, because some people are too greedy and won't try to lower our green gases emissions, they're quickly killing us-and other species- off.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
11 Feb 08
This is what most people don't understand. Global warming means that eventually we are facing Ice age.
In quick summary, if enough cold, fresh water coming from the melting polar ice caps and the melting glaciers of Greenland flows into the northern Atlantic, it will shut down the Gulf Stream, which keeps Europe and northeastern North America warm. The worst-case scenario would be a full-blown return of the last ice age - in a period as short as 2 to 3 years from its onset - and the mid-case scenario would be a period like the "little ice age" of a few centuries ago that disrupted worldwide weather patterns leading to extremely harsh winters, droughts, worldwide desertification, crop failures, and wars around the world.
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
11 Feb 08
Wow, but that you are saying, this is all just part of a cycle that we are in...the global warming causes the ice age.
@cdv102 (132)
• United States
12 Feb 08
Yes, it is part of a cycle that the earth has been through before, but we are speeding it along with out actions. What may not have happened for another 100,000 years, we're practically ensuring will happen in our lifetime. The problem is extremely serious.
1 person likes this
